The Contenders

The Contenders is a 14-program series that was produced and aired by C-SPAN in the fall of 2011. It looked at the lives and careers of 14 candidates for the presidency of the United States who were determined to have made significant impacts on U.S. politics despite not having won the presidency.[1] Most episodes were broadcast from a location of significance to the person being profiled, and featured interviews and discussion with a variety of experts.

For other uses, see Contender.
The Contenders
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes14
Production
Executive producerMark Farkas
Release
Original networkC-SPAN
Original releaseSeptember 9 (2011-09-09) –
December 9, 2011 (2011-12-09)

Selection of subjects

The list of persons profiled was selected by C-SPAN producer Mark Farkas and historian Richard Norton Smith, who was a consultant to the series.[2] Smith described the objective of their efforts as follows:

To give viewers an alternative school of American political history, in particular. It has famously been observed that the winners write the history books, and there's a lot of truth to that. But that means that we are deprived of... It's like the dark side of the moon. There's another whole story line... and even more, on the biographical level, there are 14 people in this series, many of whom I guarantee viewers may never have heard of. And all of whom I can pretty much guarantee they will find interesting to fascinating, and certainly surprising.[2]

Programs
Original air date
(Links to video of program)		Featured candidateFeatured locationInterviewees
September 2, 2011Historians' PreviewN/ARichard Norton Smith, Jean Baker, Carl Cannon
September 9, 2011Henry ClayThe Ashland Estate,
Lexington, Kentucky		James C. Klotter, Avery Malone, Alicestyne Turley
September 16, 2011James G. BlaineThe Blaine House,
Augusta, Maine		Elizabeth D. Leonard, Paul LePage, Neil Rolde, Earle G. Shettleworth Jr.
September 23, 2011William Jennings BryanFairview,
Lincoln, Nebraska		Michael Kazin, L. Robert Puschendorf, William G. Thomas III
September 30, 2011Eugene DebsEugene V. Debs Home,
Terre Haute, Indiana		Ernest Freeberg, Lisa A.W. Phillips, Bernie Sanders
October 7, 2011Charles Evans HughesUnited States Supreme Court Building,
Washington, D.C.		Paul D. Clement, Bernadette A. Meyler, Robb W. Patryk, David Pietrusza
October 14, 2011Al SmithChamber of the New York State Assembly,
New York State Capitol,
Albany, New York		John J. Evers, Beverly Gage, Sheldon Silver, Alfred E. Smith IV
October 21, 2011Wendell WillkieRush County Historical Society,
Rushville, Indiana		Richard Lugar, James H. Madison, Amity Shlaes, David Willkie
October 28, 2011Thomas E. DeweyThe Roosevelt Hotel,
New York City, New York		Thomas E. Dewey Jr., Richard Norton Smith
November 4, 2011Adlai StevensonAdlai E. Stevenson Historic Home,
Mettawa, Illinois		Newton N. Minow, Richard Norton Smith, Adlai E. Stevenson III
November 11, 2011Barry GoldwaterThe Goldwater Institute,
Phoenix, Arizona		Bill McCune, Darcy Olsen, Rick Perlstein,
November 18, 2011Hubert HumphreyThe Minnesota History Center,
St. Paul, Minnesota		Mick Caouette, Juan Williams
November 25, 2011George WallaceThe Alabama Governor's Mansion,
Montgomery, Alabama		Dan T. Carter, Peggy Wallace Kennedy, Joe L. Reed
December 2, 2011George McGovernMcGovern Center for Leadership,
Dakota Wesleyan University,
Mitchell, South Dakota		Scott Clark Farris, Jules Witcover (Note: McGovern himself had been scheduled to be part of this program, but fell and injured himself on the way into the building where the program was being filmed.[3])
December 9, 2011Ross PerotWashington, D.C.Carolyn Barta, Douglas Brinkley
December 16, 2011Historians' RetrospectiveN/ARichard Norton Smith, Jean Baker, Carl Cannon

See also

References
  1. "'The Contenders' a Nod to Failed Candidates Who Still Changed History". pbs.org. PBS Newshour. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  2. "The Contenders, Historians Preview". C-SPAN. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  3. Friedman, Chandler (2 December 2011). "George McGovern taken to South Dakota hospital after fall". CNN. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
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